Just Go Fishing!
by Bill Mathis

Every year there are more and more tournaments. When you check the 2006 Tournament Schedule, you can find a tournament near you every weekend. I think the reason there are so many tournaments is because of the competitive nature of bass anglers. I know that I am quite competitive when it comes to tournaments.
Let me tell you about what I went through during the 2005 season.

Last year I had a rough start to the season. The first tournament was on Leech Lake.
I pre-fished hard and I had located some decent fish, I figured I at least had a shot on tournament day.
Well, my spots dried up on tournament day. And I do mean dried up!
I might as well have been fishing on dry land! I ended up with one fish for the day.

The next tournament was on Gull Lake. It was redemption time. I wasn’t going to be fishing on dry land this tournament! I pre-fished it for 6 straight days and found numerous spots, some holding quality fish. Tournament day came and I really put the pressure on myself to do well. The fish were still there - but they shrunk.
I finished with a limit that day, but no check.

After a couple of weeks off, my next tournament was on the Whitefish chain. This is a lake I have never done well on. I pre-fished for 3 days and found some spots for tournament day. As I was driving to the ramp, I remembered a conversation I had with a friend who doesn’t fish tournaments. He told me what “going fishing” means to him. He told me it’s a time to relax, enjoy the outdoors and get away from work. My expectations were very low heading to the lake that day, so I decided I was going to take that attitude to the lake and I was going to relax and “just go fishing”.

I enjoyed the day and the time on the water more than any other tournament that year, even before the results of the weigh in. After 8 hours on the lake, I had caught well over my limit and had a 4.26 in the livewell.
After all the bags were weighed, I cashed my first check of the season!

As competitive anglers, we constantly put pressure on ourselves to perform on tournament day. I had done my homework. I had found the fish. I knew what it took to make them bite. What I learned that day was to relax and have fun. So next tournament, after you have put in the hard work of prefishing, you may have better results if you relax and “just go fishing”.

Bill Mathis
classicbass.com Field Staff